Page 45 of Brutal Game

What could I say to that?

you really don’t have to come home.

im coming home

I was. I’d find the money somewhere.

ill see you in a couple weeks. love you, buttface

not as much as i love you, farthead.

I smiled. Asher hadn’t called me by his other childhoodnickname for me in a long time, and it was a sign he was doing better, even if only a little.

But he was still avoiding hockey. The thing he loved most, other than me. I wiped away the tears that spilled down my face.

I was going to get it back for him.

And make Coach Jensen pay.

Someone knocked on our door.

I padded over the door in fluffy socks, opening it.

No one was there, but there was a small package on the ground. I hadn’t ordered anything, so it must be Tovah’s.

Going back into the apartment, I glanced at the package.

My namewas scrawled on it in big, block letters.

Filled with foreboding, I considered tossing the package in the trash, but curiosity got the better of me.

Opening it, I retrieved a small baggie, containing one white, nondescript pill.

Fuck, was it cyanide? Was he trying to kill me now?

There was a note on top.

TAKE ME.

Yeah fucking right. I wasn’t an idiot.

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down. I’d saved Jack’s number as “Jackass.” It gave me a tiny bit of satisfaction, even though seeing his name appear in my texts made my heart skip and then stutter to a halt.

Did you get the package?

im not taking your pill

for all I know, it’s poison

It’s not poison.

Sure it wasn’t.

what kind of sociopath texts in full properly punctuated sentences anyway

Being grammatically correct doesn’t make me a sociopath, princess. Ignoring societal mores and so-called ethics to get what I want and what I know other people need? That makes me a sociopath.

Speaking of which, we should meet up again to work on our project.

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